The Pew Research Center has published a new study on global Muslim demographics along with a helpful map. It should help combat some of the complacent stereotypes about Muslims as a monolithic group, including where they live and what they believe.

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.

While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa… [One-fifth of the Muslims] live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined. Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims.

As this article says, “Extrapolating the figures from the survey, the Islam that is largely
practised around the world, particularly in large swaths of Asia, is
more moderate and integrated than its stereotypical characterisation as
an often militant and intolerant faith.” It notes that the frequent conflation of Muslims with Arabs is a gross error. What do the matrilineal Muslims of western Sumatra have in common with those of S. Arabia; the Muslims of Xian with those of Cappadocia; the Muslims of Andhra Pradesh with those of Nigeria, etc.

(Also check out Usha Alexander’s thoughtful essay on the prejudice in the US against Muslims, where speaking of Muslims as fanatics and terrorists is not even considered bad manners; instead, it is seen as a comic expression of the truth.)